Chocolate Pretzel Bites

Not the best photo of these. For a couple of reasons. We gave all the good Chocolate Pretzel Bites to family and friends as part of their Christmas goodie package. What you see are the rejects. And they are the rejects of the rejects because we ate most of what was left. Cuz these are what Mrs. L calls "pop in the mouthable". He says they are addicting. Salty. Sweet. Chocolate. What's not to love? And so simple to make. Take some pretzels, add Hershey's Kisses, bake, pop on an M&M. Done. 

These can also be made to coordinate with any holiday you make them around. We used red and green Christmas M&M's for our Christmas presents. You can use pink for Valentines Day or orange and purple for Halloween. Different Hershey's Kisses can be used too. We made batches of these with Hugs, Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate Kisses (though there are some different baking times, see below). I've seen versions of these made with round or square pretzels (the only ones I could find locally were the standard shape). Peanut M & M's? Reese's Pieces? The possibilities are endless. These can be made quick and without a lot of fuss which makes them perfect little treats to take to a Super Bowl party this weekend. The other nice thing is you can make these in any quantity. I went through three bags of Kisses at a time making batches of these for Christmas but then I also made small batches using ten Hugs to take to work.

CHOCOLATE PRETZEL BITES

Hershey's Kisses
Small Pretzels
M & M's

Preheat oven for the type of Kiss that you are using (see notes below). Line baking sheet with foil. Place pretzels on baking sheet. Top each pretzel with a Hershey's Kiss. Bake for recommended time. When they are done, remove from oven. Place an M & M on top of each kiss sort of pushing the chocolate down into the pretzel. Put in a cool area to set.

Note: The different types of Kisses cook/bake at a different temperature and a different  length of time. The Hugs (which are the white and chocolate stripe ones) melt very quickly at a much lower temperature than say the dark chocolate. I experimented with each type by baking a few in my oven until I figured out what was the best procedure. The Hugs went in about 180 for three minutes (I've read where it can take up to six). The dark chocolate was at 350 degrees for three minutes. The milk chocolate about the same but maybe a bit shorter time. I think it really depends on your oven as I saw so many different temps and times for these in various recipes, so experiment for what works best in your oven.

Note: The Hugs especially don't really lose their shape as they bake. So if you look at them, you think that they aren't melted, but then you take them out and they fall flat! You want to take them out and put an M & M on them just as they are reaching that "melting point". The dark and milk chocolate were a little more "stubborn" in that if you aren't careful, they don't melt they just get kinda hard. As long as they melt enough to adhere to the pretzel it's easy to push an M & M into the chocolate even if it doesn't melt completely. I would say with the dark or milk chocolate a higher temp and shorter melting time is best.

Note: I saw folks that put these in the fridge to harden but I read that for some that put the chocolate "bloom" on them so I just made several batches and put them in the cold garage to set. They still got the "bloom" on them after about a week but trust me, these probably won't last that long.

Comments

[peabody]

So easy, yet so yummy. I love the Rolo ones too.

[Mom]

How come this was not in my bag of goodies. It looks good.

[Leaf Soup]

I like this bite.... so sweet...
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[noble pig]

They don't look like rejects at all!!

[Louise]

Rejects? These are beautiful!